After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea the singer alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and numerous performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.
