After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where no one makes a mistake.