After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A King of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference classic performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography 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 traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a recent documentary series that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.
