After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled 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 fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
She says showgirls are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody falters.
