After a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer references in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
