After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on classic performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Las 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 showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and numerous shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform 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. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
