Following a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded 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 hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer references in a latest docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a world where nobody falters.
