After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also reference classic performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made 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 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.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says this figure are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a world where nobody falters.
