After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
