After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where no one falters.
