After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against overstated 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, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
She says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
