Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
The expert says this figure are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
