Following a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view 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 striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and millennial 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 embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus 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 collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
She says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift hints at in a new docuseries that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one falters.
