After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Retro Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says showgirls are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a latest docuseries that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
