Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Sultan of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and 149 shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a world where nobody falters.
