After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift hints at in a new documentary series that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her 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 lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
