After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference classic performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift hints at in a new docuseries that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and numerous performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a universe where no one falters.
