After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase 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 went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a world where no one misses a mark.
