Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“This style evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
