Following a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer hints at in a recent documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a world where no one falters.
