Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in stilettos 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 underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.
