Following a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star 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 series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and 149 shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
