After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says this figure are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer references in a latest documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
