After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A King of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
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. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on classic performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and countless shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where nobody falters.
