After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A King of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion 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 new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s 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 even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed 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 private amount to buy the Mackie beaded 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 hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
