After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made 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 earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Swift hints at in a new documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and numerous performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
