After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on classic performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum 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 retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a recent documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and countless shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one falters.
