After a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on historical performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“This style evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says showgirls are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and numerous performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a world where no one falters.
