After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced 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 title is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift hints at in a new docuseries that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where nobody falters.
