After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on historical performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, 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, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion 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 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a world where no one falters.
