Following a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A King of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer 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 trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent documentary series that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where no one falters.
