After a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert 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 knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift hints at in a new docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
