After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created 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 previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches 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 sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Swift hints at in a new documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear 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 entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.
