Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal 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 whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s 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, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says showgirls are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something the singer hints at in a new docuseries that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry 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 rest before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
