After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded 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 hit among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a world where no one falters.
