Following a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea Swift hints at in a new documentary series that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs 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 rest before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.
