After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other successful musicians also reference historical performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to 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 staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.
