After a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
