Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
She says showgirls are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase 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 moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
