After a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title 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 Vintage Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
She says this figure are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something the singer references in a recent docuseries that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and numerous shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
