Following a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly 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 zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum 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 favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and countless performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
