After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea the singer alludes to in a latest documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a world where nobody falters.
