Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Master of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. 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 shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, 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 series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says this figure are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
