After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone 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 title is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic 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 sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and numerous performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
