After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro 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 beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea the singer references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and countless shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
