Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A King of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a new documentary series that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and 149 performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.
