Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on historical performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded 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 fashion collectors.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
She says this figure are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift references in a latest documentary series that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance 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 easy and beautiful and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a realm where no one falters.
