Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
