Following a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.
