Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board 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 “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made 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, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer references in a latest docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
