After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Sultan of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star 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, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and numerous shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody falters.