After a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
She says showgirls are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a recent docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and 149 performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
