After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, 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 broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made 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 earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and numerous performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where no one misses a mark.
