After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on classic performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and countless performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.
