After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina 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 past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer hints at in a new docuseries that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
