After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist 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 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
She says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer references in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and numerous shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a world where no one falters.
