After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter 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 nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
