After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded 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 knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided 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 new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the 90s pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star 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, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift hints at in a new documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and countless shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
