Following a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and countless shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 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 start early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
