After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A King of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
The expert says showgirls 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-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.