After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference classic performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously 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 vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and countless concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
