Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed 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 popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
She says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a new docuseries that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and countless shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody falters.
