After a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Swift references in a latest docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start 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 beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.
