Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift references in a recent documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
