After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The King of Glitz
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and countless shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a world where nobody misses a mark.
