After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on historical performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says showgirls are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
