After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, 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 perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a world where nobody falters.
