After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded 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 collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says showgirls are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and countless performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a world where nobody falters.
