After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift hints at in a new documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and countless concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a realm where no one falters.
