After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert 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, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
