After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic 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 appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart 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. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
