Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon 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 named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and 149 shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a universe where no one misses a mark.
