After a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Sultan of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift hints at in a new documentary series that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and countless performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
