Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on classic performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, 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 collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says this figure are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
