After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The King of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted 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 were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Swift references in a latest documentary series that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and countless shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a realm where nobody falters.
