After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A King of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded 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 emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says this figure are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Swift hints at in a new documentary series that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and numerous shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one falters.
