Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A King of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
