After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight 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 backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a world where no one makes a mistake.
