Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a new docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a world where no one makes a mistake.
