After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other successful musicians also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and 149 shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a world where nobody misses a mark.
