After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of 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 at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody falters.
