After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed 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 collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and numerous shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
