After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says this figure are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a world where no one falters.
