After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For gen Z 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 star wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, 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 trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
She says this figure are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and 149 performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
