After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based 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 remaining icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
