Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also reference historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift references in a latest docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered 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 cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
