Following a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price 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.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says showgirls are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a universe where no one falters.
