Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic 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 titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a new docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and 149 performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.
