Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star 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, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and countless shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a universe where no one falters.
