Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress 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 lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
