Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed 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 seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a new docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody falters.
