Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and countless concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos 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 moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
