After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus 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, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing 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. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and countless shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
