After a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
She says showgirls are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and countless shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.
