Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry 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 moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one falters.
