After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus 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, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea the singer references in a new documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and 149 performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one misses a mark.
