After a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Swift hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and 149 shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
