After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and countless shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a realm where nobody falters.
