Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. 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 Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
She says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody misses a mark.
