Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Master of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, 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, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and countless performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
