After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed 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 hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says this figure are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something the singer alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
