After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
