After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A King of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert 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 were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and numerous performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her 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 basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.
