Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained 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 seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously 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 popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and numerous performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a universe where no one misses a mark.
