Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star 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 classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
