Following a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price 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 trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and numerous performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where nobody falters.
