After a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
