After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something the singer alludes to in a latest documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a world where no one falters.
