After a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum 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 hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift hints at in a new docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and countless concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
