After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says this figure are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea the singer hints at in a recent docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a world where no one misses a mark.
