After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 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 seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and countless concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
