After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Revival
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 entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star 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, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says this figure are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift references in a recent docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and 149 shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support 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 moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where no one misses a mark.
