Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, 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, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
