After a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic 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 title is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created 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, the singer wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert 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. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a latest docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.
