Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor 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. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic 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 an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer references in a new documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
