Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 90s pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says the showgirl image are integral 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 no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something the singer references in a new docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a world where nobody falters.
