Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to 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 series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and numerous performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a realm where no one falters.
