After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s 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 even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a new documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and numerous shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
