Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling 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 late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a world where nobody falters.
