Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded 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 popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
She says showgirls are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea the singer hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and numerous performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
