Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé 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 explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon 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 sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Swift references in a recent documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and countless concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a universe where no one misses a mark.
