After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. 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, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a realm where nobody falters.
