Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price 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 trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines 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 performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination 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 represented fantasy, perfection and a world where no one falters.
