After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A King of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
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 term is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer references in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody falters.
