Following a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and 149 performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a realm where no one misses a mark.
