After a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 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 utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of 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 at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and countless performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
