After a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
She says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and countless performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a realm where no one falters.
