Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer references in a latest docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and 149 shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
