Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on classic performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Swift alludes to in a new docuseries that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and countless shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.
