After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and numerous shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
