Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. 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 fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift references in a latest documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 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 entrance so I could recover before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
