After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also reference classic performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Retro Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says showgirls are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs 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 rest before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a world where no one misses a mark.
