After a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time 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 including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, 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, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a realm where nobody falters.
