Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A King of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board 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 title is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says this figure are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a universe where no one falters.
