Following a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says this figure are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a realm where nobody falters.
