Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference classic performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and numerous performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform 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 working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
