After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created 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 knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, 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 sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. 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 today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price 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 trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a new docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and countless concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
