After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price 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.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer references in a new documentary series that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
