After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a new documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and countless performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a world where no one falters.
