Following a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum 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.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a realm where no one misses a mark.
