Following a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, 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 burlesque and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and numerous performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a world where nobody falters.
