Following a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, 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 shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer 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 nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a realm where no one misses a mark.
