After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term 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 modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
She says this figure are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and countless shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
