Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
These artists and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a recent documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and numerous shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a universe where no one misses a mark.
