Following a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says this figure are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Swift hints at in a new documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.
