After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star 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, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says showgirls are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea the singer hints at in a new docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and countless shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
