Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A King of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also reference classic performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, 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 encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a world where nobody misses a mark.
