After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on classic performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star 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, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift references in a recent docuseries that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
