After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called 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.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says this figure are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift references in a new documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a world where nobody falters.
