Following a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about 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 considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
