Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously 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 favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a latest docuseries that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a realm where nobody falters.
