Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Master of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea the singer references in a latest docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and numerous performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where no one misses a mark.
