After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift references in a recent docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and numerous performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one misses a mark.
