Following a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
She says this figure are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea the singer references in a recent documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where nobody falters.
