After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. 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 singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says showgirls are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift references in a new documentary series that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. 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 crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
