After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced 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 “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a new docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and 149 performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs 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. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one falters.
