After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift references in a latest documentary series that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and numerous performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
