After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference classic performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and countless concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody falters.
