Following a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on classic performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says showgirls are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and countless performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a realm where no one misses a mark.
