After a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny 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 desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. 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 crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created 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, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says this figure are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one falters.
