After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos 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 dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a world where no one falters.
