After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing 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 striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created 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 earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and 149 shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.
