After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, 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, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed 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 at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
