Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A King of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing 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 embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing 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 classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a new docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
