Following a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A King of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective 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 desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says this figure are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift hints at in a new docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.
