After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The King of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a latest documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and countless shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination 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 such icons, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
