Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer alludes to in a latest documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and 149 shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
