After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and countless performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning 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 craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one misses a mark.
