Following a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
