After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and countless shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
