Following a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original 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 called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on historical performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained 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 today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift references in a latest documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance 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 gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a universe where no one misses a mark.
