Following a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on classic performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer 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, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a new documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and numerous performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
