Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer 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 trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says this figure are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a world where nobody misses a mark.
