After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion 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, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to 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 previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says showgirls are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
