Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount 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 series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
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 public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a world where nobody misses a mark.
