After a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Master of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion 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 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
