Following a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, 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 retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says this figure are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 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 lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
