After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Master of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, 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, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“This style inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 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 start early for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
