After a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and numerous performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a world where no one misses a mark.
