Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made 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 attractive 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 spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro 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 actor wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and countless performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
