After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored 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. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says this figure are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.
