Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and countless performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
