After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A King of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s 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 seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a new docuseries that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support 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 head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.