After a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut 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.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and 149 shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
