After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny 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 were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
These artists and other successful musicians also reference historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one misses a mark.
