After a 31-year run on the iconic 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, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied 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, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer alludes to in a new docuseries that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and countless shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody falters.
