Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded 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.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
