Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, 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, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply 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 official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one falters.
