Following a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon 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 accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a recent docuseries that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress 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 underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
