Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a new docuseries that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece 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 basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one misses a mark.
