After a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Retro Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea the singer references in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and countless performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a world where no one makes a mistake.
