After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a recent documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one misses a mark.
