Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Master of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece 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 head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a world where nobody falters.
