Following a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert 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 newspaper. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer alludes to in a recent documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
