Following a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on historical performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, 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, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says this figure are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
