Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference historical performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer 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 trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
The expert says showgirls are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though 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 corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and countless performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
