Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The King of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift references in a recent docuseries that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and countless concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a universe where no one falters.
