After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Swift references in a new docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a world where no one falters.
