After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, 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, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says this figure are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and numerous performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one misses a mark.
