Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea the singer hints at in a recent documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a world where nobody falters.
