After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed 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, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
She says this figure are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift references in a latest docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where no one misses a mark.
