🔗 Share this article

After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.

The Master of Sequins

Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. 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 beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”

A Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from Tradition

Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.

But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”

The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look

For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously 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 collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”

A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City

The expert says this figure are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.

An Allure of Transformation

Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”

Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where nobody misses a mark.