After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan 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 perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says showgirls are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift references in a latest docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines 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 staircase 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 catch my breath before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a universe where no one falters.
