Following a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress created 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 private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer references in a recent documentary series that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a world where no one falters.
