After a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“This style evoke fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
She says this figure are integral to the iconography of 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 traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
