Following a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering 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 embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and 149 performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
