After a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A King of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former 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 apparently today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon 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 similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 collectors.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor 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 employed as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Swift hints at in a new documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and countless performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
