After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Master of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. 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 even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says this figure are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and countless performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
