After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A King of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star 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, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, 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 adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says this figure are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.
