After a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold 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 emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. 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 apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed 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 significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 fashion collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a world where nobody misses a mark.
