After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A King of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive 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 newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and countless shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.
