Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference historical performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and modern 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 star wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
