After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed 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 classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and countless shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
