Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
