Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and countless performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.
