Following a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on historical performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously 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 favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one falters.
