After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold 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 emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, 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, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on classic performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price 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 collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer hints at in a latest documentary series that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and numerous performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
