Following a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by 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 bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star 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 collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a new docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and 149 performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.
