After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and countless performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece 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 leave early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.
