Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
These artists and other successful musicians also reference classic performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says this figure are key to the identity of 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, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer alludes to in a new documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and numerous shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
