Following a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Swift references in a new documentary series that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
