After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A King of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view 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 publication. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion 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, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference historical performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
She says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a recent documentary series that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 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 underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
