🔗 Share this article

Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.

A King of Sparkle

Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”

A Mainstream Revival

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.

Pulling from History

Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”

A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style

For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”

A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City

The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.

An Appeal of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Swift hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and countless shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”

Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.