Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
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 “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and countless concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
