Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference historical performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount 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 series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says this figure are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody misses a mark.
