Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers 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 showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says showgirls are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and 149 shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase 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 recover before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.