After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also reference classic performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created 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 previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and numerous performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a realm where no one misses a mark.
