After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut 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 shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on historical performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum 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 series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Swift hints at in a new docuseries that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and countless performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
