Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-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 used as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
