Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to 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, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a recent docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
