After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and countless concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
