Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
She says this figure are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea the singer references in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and numerous shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.
