After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches 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 sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea the singer hints at in a latest docuseries that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and countless shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
