After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
She says this figure are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Swift references in a latest documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one falters.
