Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing 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 show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a new docuseries that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and 149 performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
