Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
These artists and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer hints at in a recent docuseries that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one misses a mark.
