After a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Sultan of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple 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 craving for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a realm where nobody falters.
