Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum 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 trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure 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 Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer references in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and countless shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.
