After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created 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 previously 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 favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and countless shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
