After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe 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. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on classic performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 favorite among collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift references in a recent documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
