Following a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed 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 vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
She says showgirls are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift references in a recent docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and 149 performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
