After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered 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 poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled 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 favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a new documentary series that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a universe where no one misses a mark.
