After a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A King of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created 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 earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
She says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
