After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price 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 vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says this figure are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody falters.
