After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a universe where no one falters.
