After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A King of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
