Following a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded 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 inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea the singer references in a new documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and countless performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.
