Following a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan 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 tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on historical performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says showgirls are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift references in a recent documentary series that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a world where no one misses a mark.
