Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift references in a latest documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and 149 performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
