After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, 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 glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
