Following a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress made 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 undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and countless concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “like 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 steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody falters.
