After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed 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 emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference classic performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro 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 earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously 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 favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift references in a latest documentary series that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
