Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
