After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Swift references in a recent documentary series that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a world where nobody falters.
