Following a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics 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 Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
She says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift hints at in a new documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a world where nobody misses a mark.
