Following a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed 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, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and 149 shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where no one falters.
