After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
