After a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star 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, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
She says this figure are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift references in a new documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
