Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created 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 seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price 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 trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says showgirls are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and countless performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a realm where nobody falters.