Following a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed 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 earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and countless shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar 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 performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a world where no one misses a mark.
