Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist 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 new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
She says showgirls are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea the singer alludes to in a new documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and countless shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
