Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded 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 hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
