After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also reference classic performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer 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 trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and countless performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a world where nobody falters.
