Following a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and 149 shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
