Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
The expert says showgirls are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and countless performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
