After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a realm where no one misses a mark.
