Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus 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 were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the iconography 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 emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a world where no one makes a mistake.
