Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold 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 enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, 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 ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says this figure are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a recent documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
