After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea the singer hints at in a recent docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and countless shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
