Following a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes created 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”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on historical performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a recent documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and countless shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable 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 performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody falters.
