Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, 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 umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
She says showgirls are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable 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 underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one falters.
