After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer 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 collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift references in a recent documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and countless performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress 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 lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody falters.
