After a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled 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 popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and countless performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
