After a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift references in a new docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and numerous shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a world where nobody falters.
