Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to 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 earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
