After a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a latest docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a realm where no one falters.
