After a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference classic performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
The expert says this figure are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and countless performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
