After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering 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 singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and numerous shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one falters.
