After a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told 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 ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded 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 popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a new documentary series that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody falters.
