After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a new documentary series that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
