After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
She says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and numerous performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a universe where no one falters.
