Following a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due 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, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously 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 popular item among collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something the singer references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and countless performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where nobody falters.
