Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and countless shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
