Following a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.
