After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus 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, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says this figure are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
