After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a recent documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
