Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously 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.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a latest docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and numerous performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 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 start early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a world where no one falters.
