Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a new docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and 149 performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a realm where no one falters.
