Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A King of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus 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 series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift references in a latest docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a universe where no one falters.
