After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by 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 crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea Swift references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and countless concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a realm where nobody falters.
