Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Master of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by 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, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod 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 designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer 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, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a latest docuseries that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and 149 shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
