After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea the singer alludes to in a recent docuseries that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece 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 lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.
