After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. 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 sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference historical performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer 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, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story 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 sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says showgirls are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
