After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol 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 allure. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and countless concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress 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 basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a world where no one falters.
