After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their 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 falling audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says this figure are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and countless performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
