After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic beaded 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 desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied 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, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and countless concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.
