After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Master of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny 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 desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance 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 some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer references in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a world where no one falters.
