After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount 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 retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
She says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a recent docuseries that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
