After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Master of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Swift hints at in a new documentary series that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody falters.
