After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod 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 inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Swift hints at in a new documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
