Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. 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 glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 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 seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one falters.
