Following a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also reference classic performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one falters.
