After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show 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 grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
She says this figure are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Swift references in a new docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and numerous performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear 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 start early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody falters.
