After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A King of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says showgirls are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and countless shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a world where no one falters.
