After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed 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 seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, 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 classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift references in a new docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and 149 shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
