Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A King of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic 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 emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star 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 retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer alludes to in a recent docuseries that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and countless performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a world where nobody falters.
