Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Master of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, 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 projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre 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 rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress 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 created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and countless concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a universe where no one misses a mark.
