After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on historical performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says showgirls are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and 149 performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
