After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer 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 theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says showgirls are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Swift references in a recent docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and countless performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
