After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created 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 told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference historical performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a recent documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and countless performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon 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 lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
