Following a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage 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 named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time 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 covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, 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, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea the singer references in a latest docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.
