After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. 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, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed 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 gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and countless performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
