After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
