Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A King of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. 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 Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed 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, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer hints at in a latest docuseries that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and countless performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a universe where no one falters.
