After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined 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 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 collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says showgirls are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a new documentary series that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and 149 shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a world where no one makes a mistake.
