After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter 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, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says showgirls are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.
