Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The King of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and 149 performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a world where no one misses a mark.
