Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. 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 modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 hit among collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and numerous shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
