Following a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label including 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 retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a world where no one makes a mistake.
