After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The King of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. 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 bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
She says this figure are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and countless shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a world where no one falters.
