Following a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. 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, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term 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 Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea the singer hints at in a latest docuseries that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.
