After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show 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. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created 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, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift references in a latest docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
