After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says this figure are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a new documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
