Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea the singer references in a latest documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
