Following a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and 149 performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.
