Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer references in a new docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.
