Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The King of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z 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 semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously 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 favorite among collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift references in a new docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and countless shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a world where nobody falters.
