After a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a world where nobody misses a mark.
