Following a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created 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 looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion 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 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus 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 retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and countless performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.
