Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference classic performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the 90s pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a latest docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and numerous performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start 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 magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where no one falters.
