After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a world where nobody misses a mark.
