After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount 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 trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.
