After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Master of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan 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 perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other successful musicians also reference historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, 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, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says this figure are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage 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 made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
