After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Master of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift references in a new documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and 149 shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a world where no one makes a mistake.
