Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price 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 collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
