Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says this figure are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea the singer references in a latest docuseries that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a world where no one misses a mark.
