After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A King of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says this figure are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something the singer alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and countless shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a world where nobody misses a mark.
