Following a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference classic performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea the singer hints at in a recent documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and 149 shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one falters.
