After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate 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 “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s 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 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and numerous performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps 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 such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
