Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a new docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and countless shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a world where no one falters.
