After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the late-century pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. 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 today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star 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. Subsequently, a singer 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 trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
She says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer references in a new documentary series that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and countless shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a world where nobody falters.
