After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on classic performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says this figure are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and countless shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where no one misses a mark.
