Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and countless performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry 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 moment so I could rest before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
