After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also reference historical performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says showgirls are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea Swift hints at in a new documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and 149 performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
