Following a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Master of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on historical performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded 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 private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 hit among collectors.
“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says showgirls are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
