Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and countless performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
