After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished 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 undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea the singer references in a new docuseries that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and countless concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a world where nobody falters.
