After a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon 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 called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, 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, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a new docuseries that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and countless concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
