Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star 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 vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and 149 shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.
