After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously 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 popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a realm where no one misses a mark.
