After a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut 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 sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something the singer references in a recent docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and countless shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
