Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A King of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer 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, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Swift references in a recent documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
