Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A King of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference historical performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and countless shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.
