After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key 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 no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
