Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic fringed 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 younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan 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 sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the late-century pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult 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 actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created 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 previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a new docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and countless performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody falters.
