Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
She says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has 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 enduring icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Allure of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea the singer hints at in a recent docuseries that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
