After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer hints at in a recent documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and countless shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.
