Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
