Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers 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 crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and countless concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
