After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus 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 series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.
