Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says this figure are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a recent docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.
