Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The King of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled 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.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says showgirls are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and countless performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
