After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Retro Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.
