After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star 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 collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and 149 performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where no one falters.
