After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says this figure are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a universe where nobody falters.
