After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé 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 desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a new documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and countless concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a universe where no one misses a mark.
