After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten 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 dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan 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 tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and countless performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.
