After a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due 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 crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference classic performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer 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, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift references in a latest documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one falters.
