After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift references in a recent docuseries that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody falters.
