After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer 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, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
She says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and numerous shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.
