After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a new documentary series that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and countless performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a world where no one falters.
