Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift references in a recent documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and numerous shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.
