After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says showgirls are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
