After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer 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 significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea the singer alludes to in a recent documentary series that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and countless performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
