After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously 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 collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a universe where nobody falters.
