After a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
