Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A King of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to 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 series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
The expert says this figure are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift references in a latest docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and 149 shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.