Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. 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 crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a latest documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and countless shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress 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 leave early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody misses a mark.
