After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says showgirls are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift references in a latest documentary series that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
