Following a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Master of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on classic performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a recent documentary series that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and 149 shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
