After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on historical performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount 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 favorite among collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.
