Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded 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 private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift references in a latest documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody misses a mark.
