Following a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
