Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of 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 series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and 149 performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform 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 rest before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
