Following a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A King of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus 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 trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and 149 performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
