After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on classic performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 favorite among collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says showgirls are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and 149 shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
