After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled 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 explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed 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 undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer references in a new documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a universe where no one misses a mark.
