After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. 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 bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and 149 performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a universe where nobody falters.
