After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Glitz
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference classic performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon 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 reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says showgirls are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a universe where no one misses a mark.
