Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 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 modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent documentary series that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and countless concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
