After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price 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 series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a latest documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and countless performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
