After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over 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 think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on classic performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.
