Following a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody misses a mark.
