Following a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A King of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of 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 earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says this figure are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and 149 shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
