After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered 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, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished 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 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 hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and countless performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
