After a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
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 vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Swift references in a recent documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She 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 stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
