Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor 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. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and countless concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
