After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A King of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says this figure are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and numerous performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a universe where nobody falters.
