After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress created 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 tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says this figure are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea the singer references in a latest docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and countless performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a world where no one falters.
