After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering 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 adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other hitmakers also reference historical performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
