After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
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 term is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For gen Z and millennial 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 actress wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, 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, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
She says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift hints at in a new documentary series that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
