After a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus 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, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and 149 performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing 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 are perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a world where no one makes a mistake.
