Following 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, famous for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on classic performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says this figure are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and countless shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
