Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A King of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says this figure are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
