Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A King of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled 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 younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term including 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 highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and countless performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
