After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan 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 sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says this figure are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a world where no one falters.
