Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed 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 desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut 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 glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody falters.
