Following a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
She says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Swift references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a realm where nobody falters.
