Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
