Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. 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 seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and 149 performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
