After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The King of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion 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 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea the singer hints at in a recent documentary series that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
