After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously 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 fashion collectors.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift references in a new docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and 149 shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
