Following a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference classic performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to 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, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the imagery of Vegas. 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 employed as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
