After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded 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 undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and countless shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
