After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro 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 beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and countless shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a world where nobody misses a mark.
