After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled 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 favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and 149 performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one falters.
