After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, 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 screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star 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, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a recent docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a universe where nobody falters.
