Following a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Retro Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a latest documentary series that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and numerous performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
