After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut 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 perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other successful musicians also reference historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded 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 nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
