After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a world where nobody falters.
