Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Swift references in a latest docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and numerous shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody misses a mark.
