Things, obviously, have changed.
“I had no idea that she was that tall and statuesque,” he says, calling Swift’s 5-foot-10 stature “really showgirl height.”
Now, a new generation of showgirls is looking to the past, with the latest crop of talent donning his creations to build their own future legacies. Miley Cyrus wore a Mackie look on the red carpet of the 2024 Grammys, then another archival Mackie beaded gown to perform “Flowers” on the show. At this year’s Grammys, Sabrina Carpenter—who is featured on the title track of Swift’s new album—wore archival and replica Mackie onstage and to the afterparty, donning a replica of a Jubilee! piece that had been worn by Britney Spears, and a dress from the ‘70s originally made for Cher. The list goes on, but the theme is clear: The concept of the showgirl is timeless, and Mackie is synonymous with showgirls.
As for Mackie, he’s loving the resurgence, and sees echoes of those showgirls of the past in the current generation.
“They’re all the same formula or recipe,” he says. “A lot of them were children to start with, when they went off to Disney to train and they were little girls, and cute little girls, but now all of a sudden they’re hot mamas, dressed to the nines, and it’s just the craziest thing ever. And they have, I love it, and they have so much knowledge. They know about lighting, they know about makeup, they know about everything you need to know. And I always say those girls were born singing and dancing and telling jokes as they came out of the womb, because it’s just unbelievable.”
Swift has that magnetism too. The key to successfully donning one of his looks, he says, wearing it as it’s meant to be worn, isn’t about body type or a certain posture.
“It’s being confident,” Mackie says. “It’s knowing what it is, after you’ve rehearsed for you know, the rehearsals go on forever before the shows ever open, right? You get that many women on stage at one time coming down a staircase that starts at the top of the theater, all the way down, and people just sit there with their mouths wide open. They can’t believe it.”
As surprised as Mackie claims to be by the resurgence of interest in his work, the fascination with his creations is as enduring as that of the showgirl.
“When Cher went off the air on TV and started doing movies, I said, ‘Oh God, I don’t have to do anything like that again,’” he says. “And then all of a sudden, it all started coming back, because the children were looking on the internet and seeing pictures of people dressed like that, and all of us, we started getting phone calls. So I’m like, okay!”
“But do you like that?” Joe McFate, his longtime design director asks, sitting next to him.
Mackie’s answer comes quickly: “I love it.”
