Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a latest documentary series that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
