Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, 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 glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress 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. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio 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 a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
