After a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed 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 seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says showgirls are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a realm where nobody falters.
