After a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed 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 previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer alludes to in a recent docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and countless concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a universe where no one misses a mark.
