After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A King of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, 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, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and countless shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a realm where no one falters.
