Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift hints at in a new docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
