After a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, 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, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
