After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert 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 stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star 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, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography 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-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift references in a new docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
