Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea the singer hints at in a latest docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and countless shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where no one misses a mark.
