Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and countless performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a world where no one makes a mistake.
