After a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. 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 Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed 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 trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a new docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a realm where no one misses a mark.
