Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum 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 collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says showgirls are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a world where no one falters.
