Following a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A King of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing 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. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered 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 adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously 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 a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents 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 elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
She says this figure are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer hints at in a latest documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and countless performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.
