After a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. 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 crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on classic performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed 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 earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says this figure are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance 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 beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a universe where no one falters.
