Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A King of Glitz
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, 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 hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and 149 shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
