After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled 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 emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal 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 Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says showgirls are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift references in a latest documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.
