Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to 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, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star 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 retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift references in a latest documentary series that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and countless performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.
