After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted 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 were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress created 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 private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says this figure are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a recent docuseries that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.
