Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on classic performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
She says showgirls are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and 149 shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a realm where no one misses a mark.
