Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A King of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 hit among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says showgirls are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Allure of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift references in a recent documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.
