After a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
