After a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea the singer references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and numerous shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 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 basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
