Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think 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 embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift references in a new docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and countless performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
