After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The King of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original 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 zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other successful musicians also reference classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer 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 significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift alludes to in a new docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and numerous performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
