After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A King of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says this figure are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.
