After a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says showgirls are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift references in a new documentary series that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
