Following a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show 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 stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, 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, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
She says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and countless performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.
