Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference classic performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something the singer hints at in a new documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and numerous shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
