After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress 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 undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says showgirls are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea the singer references in a recent documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a world where nobody falters.
