Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus 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, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a latest documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a world where no one falters.
