Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
These artists and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen 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 Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says showgirls are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody falters.
