After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, 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, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
She says this figure are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea the singer hints at in a new documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and 149 performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece 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 head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a world where nobody misses a mark.
