Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are integral to the imagery 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 traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. 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 embodied fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody falters.
