After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on historical performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer hints at in a latest docuseries that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
