Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Master of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, 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 sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic 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 semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a realm where no one falters.
