Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also reference classic performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star 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 collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
She says showgirls are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a recent docuseries that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and numerous performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a realm where no one falters.
