After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed 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 stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You’re perspiring 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 fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
