Following a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and countless shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
