Following a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created 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 knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut 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 perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus 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 popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and countless shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a realm where nobody falters.
