Following a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on classic performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. 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 broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a world where nobody falters.
