Following a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A King of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics 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 term is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are key to the iconography 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 showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Swift alludes to in a new docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and countless performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
