After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. 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 crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says showgirls are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something the singer alludes to in a new documentary series that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one falters.
