After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a recent documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and countless shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
