After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum 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 collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says showgirls are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a new docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a universe where no one misses a mark.
