Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by 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 crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously 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 popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a new docuseries that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable 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 staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
