Following a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference classic performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount 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 retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea the singer alludes to in a latest documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
