After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a world where no one falters.
