After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined 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 tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and countless shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
