Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A King of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, 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 titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
