After a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded 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 new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea the singer alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and 149 performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where nobody falters.
