Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed 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 private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and countless performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
