Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny 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 knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference classic performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says this figure are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a world where no one falters.
