Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A King of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also reference historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For gen Z 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 star wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says this figure are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and numerous shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a world where no one falters.
