After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered 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 Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco 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 fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer references in a new docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
