After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. 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, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum 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 vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a world where no one misses a mark.
