Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says this figure are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Swift references in a recent documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and numerous shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a realm where no one falters.
