After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on historical performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea the singer alludes to in a latest docuseries that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and countless shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a world where no one misses a mark.
