Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding 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 younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift references in a latest documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and countless shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.
