After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert 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 wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl 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 lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and countless shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.
