Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created 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 told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea the singer hints at in a recent documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and 149 performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
