After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making 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 a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus 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, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and countless performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a world where nobody falters.
