Following a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and young adult 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 see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says showgirls are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a latest docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and countless performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.
