🔗 Share this article

After a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.

A Master of Sparkle

Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”

The Musical Comeback

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.

Drawing from the Past

These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.

But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”

A Highly Sought-After Classic Style

For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”

More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas

Chung says this figure are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.

The Appeal of Illusion

Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and numerous performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.

Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”

Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a universe where nobody falters.