After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
She says this figure are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a world where no one misses a mark.
