Following a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted 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 – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s 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 apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Retro 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 first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled 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 vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Swift references in a new documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and countless concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.
