Following a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made 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 series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a recent documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
