After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a new docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon 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 backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a universe where no one misses a mark.
