Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. 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 shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic 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 first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer 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 hit among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and countless shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple 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 a break from reality. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a world where no one falters.
