After a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed 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 desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and countless shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.
