Following a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. A top 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 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, 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. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
The expert says this figure are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a recent documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and numerous shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.
