After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, 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 glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also reference historical performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea the singer hints at in a latest documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and countless performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
