Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus 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, the singer wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and countless performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.
