Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon 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 similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.
