After a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against camp 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 50s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift references in a new docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and countless performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody falters.
