Following a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says this figure are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and 149 performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody falters.
