Following a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously 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 popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
She says showgirls are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and numerous shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
