After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created 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 at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift references in a new documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and 149 shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a realm where nobody falters.
