After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe 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 media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
