After a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title 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 Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously 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 popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and countless performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a realm where no one misses a mark.
