Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, 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 perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says this figure are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
