After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress 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. 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 series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and countless performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
