Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says this figure are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and 149 shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a world where no one makes a mistake.
