Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Master of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing 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 extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price 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 vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift references in a new documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and numerous shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.
