Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says this figure are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea Swift alludes to in a recent documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one misses a mark.
