After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says this figure are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a new documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race 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 head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one misses a mark.
