Following a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded 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 popular item among collectors.
“This style inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
She says showgirls are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and numerous shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a world where no one makes a mistake.
