After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Retro Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift references in a new documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a world where no one misses a mark.
