After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress designed 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 private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled 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 hit among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says showgirls are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
