After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and countless shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage 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. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
