After a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“This style evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says this figure are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Allure of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer references in a latest documentary series that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and countless performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
